Compositionally driven ferroelectric phase transition in xBiInO3-(1-x)BaTiO3: a lead-free perovskite-based piezoelectric material

A comprehensive structural investigation has been carried out on xBiInO(3)-(1-x)BaTiO3, where x <= 0.25, using the high resolution neutron powder diffractometer D2B at Institut Laue-Langevin, France. The room temperature structures of eight different compositions between x=0.03 and 0.25 of this solid solution have been determined through Rietveld refinement. A gradual structural phase transition has been observed as a function of composition, where the tetragonal (P4mm) structure (ferroelectric phase) has transformed into a cubic (Pm (3) over barm) structure (paraelectric phase) after passing through a region of coexisting phases. Details of the crystallographic information obtained from the refinement have been presented. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3442504]